Remko Bakelaar of Vijverberg Advies is involved in the development of Japanese horticulture. The past few days he had close contact with the growers in the affected area: a circle of almost 200 km from Tokyo. "Certainly, some greenhouses are still intact, yet there's a lot of damage. Especially a lot of plastic greenhouses have collapsed and some pictures show that also the glass houses are affected."
Heating
"The Japanese horticulture uses lots of external fuels, which are transported to the companies by trucks. At the moment, the snow is blocking the roads and thus the fuel supply. Without heating the snow won't melt." But even with heating it would be questionable if the greenhouses could manage this heavy snowfall. "They report 1.20 to 2 meters of snow in two days. That's an historical record, which has not occurred in the last 100 years. The growers aren't prepared for such an amount of snow. "
Repairs
In the area around Tokyo, especially smaller horticultural companies are established. Several corps are cultivated for the domestic market, like lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs and spinach. Now, a couple of days after the snowfall, the roads are open again and the growers have started with the repairs on their greenhouses.
For more information
Vijverberg Advies
Remko Bakelaar
Oude Liermolenweg 2
2678 MN De Lier
The Netherlands
Tel. +31 (0) 174 610 586
Fax +31 (0) 174 648 736
info@vijverbergadvies.nl
www.vijverbergadvies.nl